Some 380 UK and Ireland writers denounce Gaza 'genocide'
LONDON: Nearly 380 writers from the UK and Ireland, including Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan, penned an open letter Wednesday denouncing what they called Israel's "genocide" in Gaza and urging a ceasefire.
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The letter called on "our nations and the peoples of the world to join us in ending our collective silence and inaction in the face of horror," they wrote in a letter published on the Medium website.
"The use of the words 'genocide' or 'acts of genocide' to describe what is happening in Gaza is no longer debated by international legal experts or human rights organisations," the letter continued.
Israel has repeatedly denied all accusations of genocide in its campaign to crush Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
The letter comes a day after 300 French-language writers, including Nobel Literature prize winners Annie Ernaux and Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, signed a similar statement condemning "genocide".
"Palestinians are not the abstract victims of an abstract war. Too often, words have been used to justify the unjustifiable, deny the undeniable, defend the indefensible," the British and Irish writers said.
The writers, including novelist Elif Shafak and playwright Hanif Kureishi as well as the Scottish and Welsh writers PEN clubs, called for a ceasefire, the "immediate distribution of food and medical aid" in Gaza and sanctions on Israel.
International condemnation has grown over Israel's humanitarian aid blockade and relentless strikes after it ended a ceasefire in March and intensified military operations this month.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said 53,977, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israel's offensive since October 2023, when a Hamas attack on Israel triggered the war.
Some 1,218 were killed in the Hamas attack, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
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Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead.
"This is not only about our common humanity and all human rights; this is about our moral fitness as the writers of our time," the writers said.
On Monday over 800 UK-based legal experts, including former Supreme Court justices, wrote to Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying: "Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide occurring.
"Serious violations of international law are being committed and are further threatened by Israel," the lawyers said, adding the UK is "legally obliged to take all reasonable steps within their power to prevent and punish genocide."
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